Gregor Townsend admitted Ireland were simply too good for his Scotland team to handle as their World Cup dream ended with a chastening 36-14 defeat by the world’s top-ranked side in Paris on Saturday night.
After losing their opening match to South Africa, the Scots had to win with a bonus point or by denying the Irish a losing bonus in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Their hopes were dented by the concession of a try after just over a minute and the game was effectively over by half-time as the Irish ran in another three scores before the break to lead 26-0.
Scotland rallied slightly to win the second half 14-10, but there was a sense of dejection at full-time as they departed the tournament at the first hurdle at a time when they are ranked fifth in the world.
“It’s a very disappointing result, we have gone out of the World Cup against the highest-ranked side in the world, and they were well ahead at half-time,” rued head coach Townsend.
“We played the number two side in the world in the opening game and it was a close game.
“In isolation, this is a really disappointing defeat against a very good side and one we believed we had the ability to beat.
“They were the better team tonight, they were excellent and it’s probably the best I have seen them play.
“It’s probably where we and they are in terms of the rankings and why now they are the favourites for the World Cup.”
Townsend did not feel James Lowe’s early try set the tone as Scotland went on to enjoy a spell of pressure thereafter, albeit without reward, before Ireland turned the screw in the lead-up to half-time.
“The early try wasn’t a factor as we managed in that first 20 minutes to put some good rugby together, but we didn’t put any points on the board,” said Townsend.
“The tries before half-time we could have defended better, but I have to give credit to Ireland as they executed very well and the game went away from us.
“In the second half, I was really proud of the effort and the intent to not allow the score to become a bigger one. We came back and showed who we were in attack.
“The game had gotten away from us, so we focused on winning back respect. To get two tries against such a top team, we’ll take a little bit out of that.
“We’re very disappointed with the result and the first-half performance, but credit to Ireland, who were very, very good.”
While the fact they were placed in a group alongside the world’s top-ranked side and the defending world champions counts as some mitigation for Scotland’s early exit, Townsend acknowledged his team were not at their best over the course of the tournament.
“We certainly have to do better, and the responsibility is mine,” he said. “We believed we could get out of this pool, and we still believed that after losing to South Africa with the response the players showed in training and the games they played (against Tonga and Romania), gave us an opportunity tonight, which we didn’t take.
“Ireland are a better team than us on tonight’s performance, and they’ve won 17 games in a row so they’ve clearly been the better team over the last couple of years. Now, if we can get on the journey they have been on the last few years then great – but it is easy saying that, it is another thing doing it.
“You become a better team through defeats as well as victories, and we’ve got to make sure that this defeat makes us a better team for the Six Nations coming up and the next World Cup, although at this point the Six Nations is much more relevant.”
Leigh Wood retained his world featherweight title after weathering a ferocious onslaught from Josh Warrington to stop his British rival in a pulsating showdown at the Utilita Arena Sheffield.
In the first defence of his second reign as WBA champion, Wood absorbed some punishing blows over several rounds and remained upright despite being clearly troubled by Warrington’s relentless flurries.
Wood, though, kept his composure amid a cacophony of noise and unloaded with precise combination punching, finishing with a right to the temple and then a left when Warrington was on the way down.
Warrington, seeking to become a three-time champion at 126lbs, rose gamely but was on wobbly legs, prompting referee Michael Alexander to wave off the contest right at the end of the seventh round.
Warrington protested the decision before slumping his head on the referee’s shoulder in grim defeat as Wood celebrated his latest comeback victory to improve his record to 28 wins and three defeats.
A fight at the City Ground, home of his beloved Nottingham Forest, could be next for Wood, who could move up to super-featherweight after admitting boiling down to 126lbs was becoming increasingly tough.
While three years younger than his conqueror, Warrington’s future is less certain after slumping to his third defeat in 35 bouts, including back-to-back losses world title fights in just under a year.
Jude Bellingham’s goalscoring hot streak continued with a brace as LaLiga leaders Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 at the Bernabeu.
The England midfielder opened the scoring with a ninth-minute finish and added another effort nine minutes into the second half to take him to 10 goals in as many games for Real since joining them from Borussia Dortmund over the summer.
Further finishes followed from Vincius Junior and Joselu, who then saw a penalty saved by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
Girona leapfrogged Barcelona – who play at Granada on Sunday – into second, two points behind Real, with a 1-0 win at 10-man Cadiz.
After the hosts had Darwin Machis sent off in the 10th minute, Aleix Garcia netted a 59th-minute winner.
Valencia drew 1-1 at Mallorca thanks to Diego Lopez’s headed equaliser in first-half stoppage time after Daniel Rodriguez’s opener, while Sevilla fought back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw at home against Rayo Vallecano, with Youssef En-Nesyri scoring a stoppage-time leveller.
Oscar Valentin and Alvaro Garcia put Rayo in control inside 26 minutes before Djibril Sow halved the deficit and En-Nesyri’s last-gasp equaliser.
AC Milan moved to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Genoa that saw Christian Pulisic score late on before both sides had their goalkeepers sent off in stoppage time.
After Pulisic broke the deadlock by firing home in the 87th minute, the Rossoneri were then reduced to 10 men in the eighth minute of time added on when Mike Maignan was shown a red card.
Pulisic’s fellow substitute Olivier Giroud took over from Maignan in goal, and saw the Milan crossbar get rattled moments later – before the drama continued with Genoa keeper Josep Martinez being shown a second yellow card.
With Giroud then making a save in the final few moments, Milan saw out the victory to take top spot, going two points clear of Inter Milan, who were held 2-2 at home by Bologna earlier in the day.
Inter looked well in control after early goals from Francesco Acerbi and Lautaro Martínez, but Bologna hit back with a Riccardo Orsolini penalty in the 19th minute, and Joshua Zirkzee then equalised seven minutes into the second half.
Juventus moved above champions Napoli into third with a 2-0 win at home against derby rivals Torino, Federico Gatti and Arkadiusz Milik getting on the scoresheet. Napoli play Fiorentina at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday evening.
Monaco lead Ligue 1 by a point after winning 3-1 at Reims – Ismail Jakobs, Folarin Balogun and Wissam Ben Yedder netting for the visitors before Teddy Teuma replied with a penalty.
The result took Monaco back above Nice, who had earlier moved to the top following a 1-0 win at Metz, with Hichem Boudaoui scoring the only goal in the 14th minute.
Stuttgart are the current table-toppers in the Bundesliga following their 3-1 come-from-behind win over Wolfsburg.
Replying to Yannick Gerhardt’s opener, Serhou Guirassy registered a second-half hat-trick, the first goal a penalty, to take him to 13 goals for the season in just seven games.
A point behind them are Borussia Dortmund, who beat Union Berlin 4-2 at Signal Iduna Park.
The hosts were behind at the break after Niclas Fullkrug’s opener was cancelled out by Robin Gosens and Leonardo Bonucci scored a penalty, before a second-half turnaround saw Nico Schlotterbeck, Julian Brandt and Julian Ryerson net for Dortmund.
RB Leipzig had a penalty saved in each half as they were held 0-0 at home by Bochum, Manuel Riemann denying Xavi Simons and then Emil Forsberg.
Hoffenheim moved into the top four with a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen sealed by Marius Bulter in the second minute of stoppage time – a minute after Jens Stage had equalised for the hosts.
Maximilian Beier’s early goal put Hoffenheim ahead in the eighth minute, but Romano Schmid equalised nine minutes later only for Grischa Promel to regain the first-half lead for the visitors.
Darmstadt won 2-1 at Augsburg thanks to goals from Tim Skarke and a Tobias Kempe penalty before Ermedin Demirovic netted a late consolation for the hosts.
England boss Gareth Southgate says it is “not a stupid question” to ask whether Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is the best player in the world right now.
Having impressed at Birmingham and flourished at Borussia Dortmund, the 20-year-old midfielder has gone up another level since his big-money switch to Spain.
Bellingham has immediately established himself as one of Madrid’s main men and has scored 10 goals in 10 matches since moving to the Bernabeu for an initial £88.5million fee.
The midfielder scored a brace in Saturday’s 4-0 win against Osasuna, which will only increase talk of the midfielder being the world’s top player at the moment.
Asked if Bellingham was the best in the world right now, Southgate – speaking before the Real star’s two-goal showing on Saturday – said: “I wondered if you might say that!
“No, it’s not a stupid question. I haven’t seen everybody and studied everybody playing.
“All I can say is he’s at one of the biggest clubs in the world, arguably the biggest, and he’s playing exceptionally well and he’s currently the match-winner for them so he’s in a brilliant place.”
Bellingham has quickly established himself as a fan favourite at the Bernabeu, where he has added more goals to his game playing in a more advanced position.
The 20-year-old scored a solo stunner in Tuesday’s 3-2 Champions League win at Napoli, with Spanish media comparing him to Diego Maradona and Alfredo Di Stefano.
“He’s playing higher,” Southgate said. “We played him higher against Scotland, he had that freedom in the Ukraine game as well, we didn’t use the game well enough in the final third.
“But he’s always looked dangerous and had an impact around the opposing box with Dortmund and with us, without looking quite as calm as he has this season in front of goal.
“It’s brilliant to have people who can win games.
“He’s been the match-winner for Real Madrid and the start for him has been absolutely phenomenal. I’m chuffed to bits for him.”
Asked if Bellingham is a number 10 who could play up top on his own without a number nine, the England boss said: “Well, there are lots of different number 10s, aren’t there?
“The 10s I played against, (Dennis) Bergkamp, (Gianfranco) Zola probably were forwards that dropped deeper rather than the other way round.
“Jude is a more powerful player than those, slightly different. More of a midfield player, who’s going to make midfield runs. That doesn’t mean he’s any less effective, as we’ve seen.
“Their team have found a nice balance with the athletic midfield they have behind and, having lost (Karim) Benzema as they did and lost Vinicius (to injury) as they did, they have been adapting.
“He’s been defending on the left wing in a couple of games and I can just imagine the reaction from all and sundry if I asked him to do that!
“So, look, he’s doing brilliantly well and that’s the beauty of some of the options we’ve got. We can play players in different positions. They’re good players so they can adapt.”
Bellingham will now join up with England for a Wembley double-header, with Friday’s friendly against Australia followed by a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy.
Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested with his selection for October’s fixtures, meaning vice-captain Jordan Henderson kept his place after his controversial move to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia.
“His physical data is fine,” Southgate said of the former Liverpool skipper. “The games are not at the same intensity as the games here. The heat is part of that.
“There are two or three drinks breaks per game, which is an indication of the climate, and that his having an impact on how teams play.
“It is a situation that we are tracking closely. I will go out and watch games. But we get all his games the same way we get everybody else’s.
“That’s a longer trip and in these first couple of months we’ve felt it more important to see as many games live as we can, as quickly as possible, by getting around our country more.
“But as time moves on, we’ll get to more of the Milans, the Madrids and the Bayern Munichs, as well as out to see Hendo.”
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has encouraged home-grown midfielder Sean Longstaff to set his sights on an England call-up after shining on the European stage.
The 25-year-old’s career, which looked to have stalled under Steve Bruce, has been resurrected since Howe took over in November 2021 and he played a key role in Wednesday night’s 4-1 Champions League victory over Paris St Germain with a tireless display capped with the third goal.
Longstaff has been a key figure in the side which has gone six games undefeated and conceded just a single goal ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to West Ham, and while the Magpies’ head coach studiously avoids trying to pick Gareth Southgate’s squad for him, he insists the Academy graduate has what it takes to play international football.
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Howe said: “I haven’t spoken with Sean in any great detail about the England squad or his dreams and aims, but I’d encourage it for him because I think he is good enough.
“I think he’s got everything depending on what system you want to play but for us, he perfectly fits the number eight role that we’re using him in.
“I’d love to see him score more goals and get in more goalscoring positions because I think he is a very good finisher – you saw the other night with a really good goal – so hopefully there’s more to come from him.
“But he’s certainly done very well at the start of this season.”
North Shields-born Longstaff’s re-emergence has ensured a Geordie presence in Howe’s increasingly-cosmopolitan starting XI and he is not alone with Blyth native Dan Burn having made the left-back spot his own since his £13million arrival from Brighton in January last year.
At 6ft 6in, the 31-year-old – who also scored against PSG – does not fit the usual profile for a full-back, but having played the role earlier in his career, has adapted admirably to what he has been asked to do.
Howe said: “He’s been magnificent. He’s unusual. There are not many Dan Burn-type players playing football.
“He’s done so well to adapt to the position, but it’s a position he’s played before, so it’s not new to him. It’s just new to him for us, but technically he’s been very good.
“Defensively, he’s got a brilliant mindset to defending. He enjoys defending, he wants to defend.
“You can see in the last two games, the amount of good decisions he’s made against very good opponents, whether that’s a fast tricky winger or someone who is good positionally.
“He finds a way to react really well in-game to make adjustments to deal with his opponent.”
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola distanced himself from Mikel Arteta’s success at Arsenal, insisting he learned just as much from his fellow Spaniard as opposed to the other way around.
The narrative of Sunday’s skirmish between two sides tipped to be vying for the Premier League title at the end of the season centres on Guardiola the master going up against Arteta the protege.
Arteta was one of Guardiola’s assistants for three years before leaving for Arsenal in December 2019, making gradual strides to the point where they were City’s closest top-flight challengers last season.
Any notion Guardiola is indirectly responsible for Arsenal’s resurgence was rubbished by the former Barcelona manager, who believes he had a reciprocal arrangement with Arteta during their time at City.
Asked if he sees a lot of his characteristics in Arteta, Guardiola said with a smile: “Zero. He has a completely different father and mother and he has his own personality.
“All the success he has belongs absolutely to Mikel and his people at Arsenal, not me. People say ‘he was with Pep and learned a lot’. I learned a lot from him.
“People say always I have to teach my assistant coaches; I bring the assistant coaches here to teach me. I am here, the figure in front of the microphone but I learn like the players.
“People believe we teach the players but we learn off them to take the decisions many times. All of the good things about Mikel belong to him, his genetics his mum and dad are giving to him. Not me.”
En route to a historic treble last season, City collected a third successive league title as they finished five points ahead of Arsenal, who claimed a top-four spot for the first time since 2016.
Guardiola thinks Arteta can bring back the glory days at Arsenal, who signed England midfielder Declan Rice for a club record £100million, plus £5m in add-ons, in July after City dropped out of the race.
Guardiola said: “Everybody knows that we wanted him. In the end, Arsenal pushed more and wanted him more. Maybe Mikel was more convincing than me. We could afford it maybe less, that’s why.”
Arsenal, who are unbeaten after seven league games and lie just one point City in the table, also paid more than £60m for Kai Havertz and their spending power suggests they will be challengers for a while.
Guardiola added: “Normally when Manchester City spent this amount of money it’s crazy, when it’s the other ones how smart they are.
“I’m not denying that everyone can do whatever they want and never judge the other one. We have been judged all the time but it’s fine.
“When we were in the middle of the table it never happened (like) that, it was not a problem, we were not under scrutiny from the rest.
“At the moment Arsenal’s recruitment is really good. They have a young squad for many, many years.
“The perspective for many is the fact that they will be there many times and, of course, Declan Rice is an exceptional, exceptional holding midfielder with the national team. He is an exceptional player.”
AC Milan moved to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Genoa that saw Christian Pulisic score late on before both sides had their goalkeepers sent off in stoppage time.
After substitute Pulisic broke the deadlock by firing home in the 87th minute, the Rossoneri were then reduced to 10 men in the eighth minute of time added on when Mike Maignan was dismissed.
Pulisic’s fellow substitute Olivier Giroud took over from Maignan in goal, and saw the Milan bar rattled moments later – before the drama continued with Genoa keeper Josep Martinez being shown a second yellow card.
With Giroud then making a save in the final few moments, Milan saw out the victory as they managed to take maximum advantage of Inter Milan being held 2-2 at home by Bologna earlier in the day.
Securing a fourth successive league victory and eighth in nine Serie A games, Stefano Pioli’s went two points clear as they replaced Inter at the summit.
Pioli made five changes to his starting line-up from the 0-0 Champions League draw at Borussia Dortmund, including replacing the front three of Giroud, Pulisic and Rafael Leao with Luka Jovic, Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor.
Two of that trio brought in almost combined for an early goal, with Chukwueze lofting the ball forward and Okafor just unable to finish as Martinez grabbed it.
The hosts then appealed for a penalty when Johan Vasquez went down in a tangle with Alessandro Florenzi but nothing was given.
A spell of Milan pressure around the quarter-hour mark saw Martinez deal with a shot from Florenzi and then block Tijjani Reijnders’ strike.
Florenzi subsequently got himself in the way of a Vasquez shot, before Theo Fernandez and Florenzi hit drives off-target.
After Pioli opted to bring on Pulisic and Leao for Chukwueze and Okafor at the interval, Milan continued to be frustrated in their search for a breakthrough early in the second half, struggling to fashion much in attack.
Leao then saw Martinez make a fine save to tip his bouncing header over the bar in the 65th minute, shortly before Giroud was introduced to the fray.
Genoa then threatened to grab the lead as Radu Dragusin’s shot deflected off Reijnders, with Maignan doing well to turn it around the post, and substitute Caleb Ekuban headed over.
It looked as if Milan would miss their opportunity to replace Inter at the top, but Pulisic then controlled a Yunus Musah delivery, turned and fired in, the effort standing after a VAR check for handball.
That proved only the start of a dramatic finale as stoppage time saw Maignan given a red card, via VAR, for clattering Ekuban, Giroud don the gloves, and the resulting free-kick by Albert Gudmundsson diverting off Fikayo Tomori and onto the Milan bar.
Martinez then fouled Musah and was sent off himself, before Giroud came out to bat the ball away from George Puscas as Milan emerged with all three points.
Rampant Ireland set up tantalising quarter-final rematch against New Zealand by condemning ragged rivals Scotland to another early World Cup exit with a crushing 36-14 bonus-point success in Paris.
Gregor Townsend’s men required a heroic win by eight points or more at Stade de France to snatch progression at the expense of their opponents.
But Test rugby’s top-ranked nation emphatically underlined their status with a thrilling display of attacking verve to avoid major drama in a feisty encounter.
James Lowe’s early try settled any nerves before Hugo Keenan crossed either side of a score from the recalled Iain Henderson to quickly take the game away from the shell-shocked Scots before the break.
Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose added to the embarrassment before Scottish pair Ewan Ashman and Ali Price claimed quickfire consolations.
Ireland will take on the All Blacks in the last eight, seeking to avenge the 46-14 thrashing suffered at the same stage of the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Head coach Andy Farrell perhaps has cause for concern ahead of that showdown due apparent injuries suffered by wings Mack Hansen and Lowe.
Scotland, meanwhile, face an early flight home for the second successive tournament, with South Africa going through as Pool B runners-up to take on hosts France.
Premature departures for Blair Kinghorn, Jamie Ritchie and Darcy Graham due to fitness issues contributed to their woes, while Ollie Smith was shown a yellow card for causing a mass brawl.
The Scots came into the competition with one of their most talented teams in years but, following a chastening evening in the French capital, were left to rue being placed in the most difficult group alongside the reigning champions and the world’s number one team.
Permutations, premature elimination and the slim possibility of the Springboks crashing out dominated the build-up to a titanic qualification shoot-out in Saint-Denis.
A deafening roar greeted the teams and the decibels were raised further among the dominant Irish support with just over a minute on the clock when Hansen sent Lowe over in the left corner after Ringrose dummied his way beyond Grant Gilchrist.
Scotland roared back and showed a statement of intent by kicking a series of penalties to the corner, forcing Ireland to ferociously repel prolonged pressure.
But their cause was not helped by losing full-back Kinghorn, whose 50th cap lasted just nine minutes, and captain Ritchie, while Ireland wing Hansen also went off.
Ireland’s defiant defending was matched equally by awesome attacking enterprise and they stretched the scoreboard significantly with two quickfire tries.
Delightful slick interplay from right to left unlocked the Scottish backline, culminating in Ringrose teeing up the onrushing Keenan in the 27th minute, before Henderson marked his first start of the tournament by bulldozing over minutes later.
Far from thinking about the knock-out stages, Scotland trudged down the tunnel at the break fearing humiliation.
Ireland’s well-oiled machine led 26-0 ahead at that stage with a bonus point in the bag after Johnny Sexton set up Keenan’s second and then sent over his third successful conversion.
Scotland desperately needed to show some fight and did so as tempers boiled over early in the second period during a melee sparked by Smith’s off-the-ball trip on Sexton.
Players from both sides piled in, with Pierre Schoeman and Sheehan ploughing over an advertising board, before instigator Smith was sin-binned.
Sheehan was on the floor again minutes later, this time diving over to claim Ireland’s fifth try before Farrell wisely withdrew talisman Sexton, in addition to five of his forwards.
Jack Crowley’s fine cross-field kick sent over Ringrose before Scottish resistance finally materialised in the shape of a pair of well-taken scores, each converted by the largely subdued Finn Russell.
Replacement hooker Ashman made an immediate impact by galloping over on the right to ensure his side were not whitewashed, before scrum-half Price finished a fine team move.
Yet their endeavours mattered little as Ireland comfortably marched on thanks to a 17th successive win and a ninth in a row against the eliminated Scots.
Former Manchester United star David Beckham believes he knows the right people to take over and restore the club’s fortunes.
Speaking to Sky Sports at the Qatar Grand Prix as the ongoing takeover saga at Old Trafford approaches its first anniversary, the 48-year-old Inter Miami president admitted he was hoping for a conclusion to the Glazer family’s strategic review sooner rather than later.
Asked if Saturday’s last-gasp Premier League victory over Brentford could be a turning point for manager Erik ten Hag, Beckham told Sky Sports: “Let’s see.
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“He’s a good coach. It is a difficult time at the moment, but there’s a lot of noise around the club at the moment, so it can’t be easy for him.
“We all want that noise to go away and we all want a decision to be made for the club, for the fans, for the players and for the manager as well because we are one of the, if not the, biggest clubs in the world and we want stability, and I think that’s the most important thing.
“We all have our favourites of who we feel need to run the club and look after the club and take the club back to where it belongs, but in our eyes, in the fans’ eyes, we’re number one and we want to be back at the top.
“I believe I know the right people to do that, so…”
Asked if “the right people” could be Sheikh Jassim, Beckham added with a smile: “We’ll see.”
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim and INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe both submitted offers to buy the club in February and have made further bids since, although little significant progress has been made.
The club’s valuation on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted by more than £500million last month in the wake of reports the Glazers may not sell after all, and reports since have suggested Ratcliffe, the second-richest person in the UK according to the Sunday Times Rich List, could decide instead to buy a minority stake in the Premier League giants.
Meanwhile, Beckham sent his condolences to his former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson following the death of his wife Lady Cathy at the age of 84.
He said: “Obviously deepest sympathies go to the boss because to have Cathy by his side for a long, long time, got many, many years to be the strength that he needed through his career and through his life, it’s a really sad time for him and his family and the grandkids, so we obviously send our love to him.
“She was an incredible person and someone… We looked up to the boss, we also looked up to Cathy, so it’s a really sad time for him.”
Owen Farrell admitted his relief that his shot clock blunder did not cost England victory as they scraped past Samoa in their final World Cup group game.
England needed a late Danny Care try to defeat magnificent Islander opposition in an error-ridden 18-17 victory in Lille that will have sent the spirits of likely quarter-final opponents Fiji soaring.
A crucial moment came in the 64th minute when Farrell was lining up a routine penalty with the team 17-11 behind only for the time to run out on the shot clock – the first time it has happened in this tournament.
“I didn’t see the clock. I wasn’t aware. It was above where I was picking my target. I got lost a little bit in the kick,” Farrell said.
“It wasn’t good enough and I’m glad for the team’s sake that it didn’t cost us. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
England had already qualified for the quarter-finals as Pool D winners but this night in Lille was a backwards step that evoked memories of August’s dismal warm-up campaign.
Head coach Steve Borthwick accepted it was a poor performance but valued the hard-fought run out before the knockout phase begins.
“Immense credit to Samoa, I thought they played brilliantly,” said Borthwick, who revealed that Manu Tuilagi suffered an injury that forced him off.
“Samoa spoke about it being their World Cup final and that’s exactly how they played. They tested us and forced us into a lot of errors,” Borthwick said.
“It was a scrappy performance for a long period by us in a real tough Test. As we look towards next week, I wanted a tough Test – and that’s exactly what we got.
“There was a lot that was not at the required standard – lots of errors, mistakes, scrappiness and for a period there were too many penalties. And then the players got hold of it on the pitch and found a way to get the result.
“A lot has been said before about this England team when it is in tough circumstances.
“Now the team was in tough circumstances against Samoa. We didn’t want to be there, we didn’t want to play the way that got us in those tough circumstances but this team found a way out of it.”
Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua feels less-established teams such as his Islanders are battling against “unconscious bias” from officials when they face the heavyweights.
“I asked the question if the referees have an unconscious bias when a tier-one team plays a tier-two team. I believe there is and I believe there has been in the past,” Mapusua said.
“I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault, it’s what I’ve seen in our game for the last however many years, since I was playing.
“My heart breaks for these boys. I thought they deserved a lot more than they got from that game.
“I felt we did enough to earn a victory. Such is the cruel nature of sport, it wasn’t to be. In terms of the effort it’s a pretty tough one to take.”
Max Verstappen hailed his third Formula One world title as the finest of his career – and vowed to celebrate by downing a few sparkling waters.
The 26-year-old Dutchman has emulated Sir Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna after being crowned a triple world champion with six grands prix still remaining – equalling Michael Schumacher’s 21-year-old record.
Red Bull’s Verstappen has dominated Formula One since he beat Lewis Hamilton to clinch his maiden championship at the deeply controversial season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021.
And his coronation of this most one-sided of campaigns was confirmed on lap 11 of 19 of a frantic sprint race when Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull crashed out under the floodlights of the Lusail International Circuit.
Verstappen has failed to win just three of the 16 rounds so far this season, and he became the first driver in history to win 10 consecutive races following a remarkable unbeaten streak from the opening weekend of May in Miami to the Italian Grand Prix on September 3.
Verstappen’s title parade will start here at 8pm local time (6pm BST) when the lights go out on Sunday’s 57-lap Grand Prix.
“This championship is the best one,” said Verstappen. “The first one was the most emotional because that is when my dreams were fulfilled. But this has been my best year in terms of performance.
“I am the most proud of this one because of how consistent I have been. I will have quite a few sparkling waters tonight, but I will be here tomorrow.”
Verstappen’s championship-winning campaign has been one largely led from the front but the Dutchman dropped from third to fifth at the end of the opening lap of Saturday’s sprint race.
After being usurped by Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc off the line, Verstappen momentarily got out of shape at the opening right-hander, with Fernando Alonso nibbling at the back of his machine.
Verstappen survived, and then slung his Red Bull underneath Lando Norris for fifth. Two safety cars followed as Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant beached their respective cars and Verstappen – on the slower, but more durable, medium rubber – set about his comeback.
First to be swatted aside was Leclerc on the main straight on lap nine, with Sainz the Dutchman’s next victim on the following lap.
On lap 11, the championship was officially over. Esteban Ocon attempted to overtake Nico Hulkenberg on the inside of the second corner, and with Perez to the right of the Haas driver, Ocon lost control of his Alpine and took the Red Bull with him. It summed up the Mexican’s woefully disappointing campaign.
Perez shared two wins apiece with Verstappen from the opening four fixtures but his demise has been dramatic. He is 177 points – the equivalent of more than seven victories – behind the man driving identical machinery.
On lap 16, Verstappen eased past Russell with Oscar Piastri 2.6 seconds up the road. However, the impressive McLaren rookie could not be caught as he claimed his first win in F1. It did not matter for Verstappen who could celebrate becoming just the 11th driver to win the title on more than two occasions.
“Max, you are a three-time world champion,” roared Red Bull’s jubilant team principal Christian Horner over the radio. “That is unbelievable. It has been an incredible year for you.”
Verstappen, who starts on pole on Sunday, could claim the 49th win of his career with only Hamilton (103 victories), Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51) ahead of him.
Verstappen turned 26 only last week, and the prospect of emulating the seven championships shared by Hamilton and Schumacher is surely possible.
“I am enjoying the moment and hopefully we will keep this momentum going for a while,” said Verstappen, whose deal with Red Bull runs until 2028.
“It is different to other sports where you can set out targets and if I keep in good shape then these things are possible.
“But in F1 it doesn’t always work like that. It depends on the package. I have quite a few more years in me to operate at my best but we will see how long that is. It is more about how long I want to be here.
“I live in the moment and I have achieved way more than I ever thought was possible.”
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper believes his side are heading in the right direction despite their trip to Crystal Palace ending in a “disappointing” goalless draw.
Cooper’s men had their chances at Selhurst Park, where Morgan Gibbs-White saw a shot come back off a post and a sprightly Murillo was denied more than once by Eagles goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
In the end, it was a closer result than some had perhaps expected from a Palace squad that, already mired in an injury crisis, saw both Jeffrey Schlupp and Jairo Riedewald forced off either side of half-time.
Cooper said: “We’re definitely the team that, if anyone deserved to win it was us. That was clear, with the chances in the game, so there’s a little feeling of disappointment in the dressing room for sure, but also knowing that performances and results like this last year were so hard to come by.
“So the fact that we looked like that tonight and the way we have played means that beyond the small disappointment of not winning, we see a team that’s growing and hopefully on an upward trajectory.
“I have to bear that in mind. We want to be winning games, especially when we have chances like we did tonight, how we played in the first half and how we ended the game.
“But I think we’ve also got to respect that we kept a clean sheet, and for us to play like that I think is something that overall will be a real positive.”
Roy Hodgson, who managed his 400th Premier League contest on Saturday, admitted he has rarely, if ever, experienced an injury crisis quite like the one plaguing the Eagles.
Having already been forced to make three changes to his line-up from Palace’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United due to injuries to Eberechi Eze, Joel Ward and Cheick Doucoure, the 76-year-old was forced into two more on Saturday evening.
As Schlupp hobbled off the pitch, Hodgson elected to bring on 21-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who before the Forest encounter had played just nine Premier League minutes for Palace.
Rak-Sakyi, who had a disappointing Carabao Cup outing at Old Trafford last week, was a silver lining for Palace and received a warm reception from the home support after he delivered dangerous crosses into the area and tried twice to hand his side an opener.
Ultimately neither side could take advantage of what few chances they had created, but the Palace boss was full of praise for his young substitute, who returned from a loan spell at Charlton at the end of last season.
Hodgson, who compared Rak-Sakyi to the injured Michael Olise, said: “I was delighted for him. There were a lot of clubs interested in taking him again.
“I had to fight with him a little bit to persuade him that if he really wants to be a Premier League player he is in the best place and chances will come, and today he got that chance and I think he took it extremely well.
“He didn’t just do well on the ball, he also did his defensive work. Of course when you’ve got wingers, talented wingers, that is one of the things you ask questions about: is he going to be good on the ball for those few moments he’s got it, but also what is he going to be like when we’re working hard to stop them doing something with it?”
Former All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts have agreed to a three-year, $42million contract extension, multiple media outlets reported Saturday. The deal reportedly includes $26.5million in guarantees.
The extension ends a lengthy and sometimes bitter contract dispute between Taylor and the team that drafted him in 2020.
Taylor, 24, was activated from the physically unable to perform list earlier this week and will have a chance to make his season debut Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
While recovering from ankle surgery, Taylor missed offseason activities and training camp before being placed on the PUP list.
In his first public comments since June, Taylor told reporters Thursday that he was eager to return to the field.
“If somebody wasn’t committed, they wouldn’t be here. Right now, I’m here and my No. 1 goal is really to attack this first practice," Taylor said. "It’s been over 290 days, I believe. When you’re not doing what you love, you’re going to notice it, so my main goal has been to attack this first day.”
Taylor and Colts owner Jim Irsay engaged in a war of words through the media this summer, with Taylor bemoaning the compensation offered to running backs.
Taylor requested a trade, and the Colts eventually gave him permission to seek a trade partner after Irsay had initially said that Taylor would not be traded.
In the end, Indianapolis (2-2) keeps 2021’s leading rusher and a potent offensive weapon to pair with rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Taylor ran for 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2021, earning AP All-Pro honours. He had 861 yards and four touchdowns in an injury-shortened season last year.
In 43 career games, Taylor has 4,643 yards from scrimmage and 36 total touchdowns.
Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest settled for a point apiece after playing out a goalless draw at Selhurst Park.
Morgan Gibbs-White came closest for Forest when he clipped the inside of the far post in the first half, while Jean-Philippe Mateta narrowly missed breaking the deadlock in the second period.
Roy Hodgson’s 400th Premier League game in charge was marred by two more injuries to his severely-depleted side, with Jeffrey Schlupp and Jairo Riedewald forced off on either side of the interval.
Substitute Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was impressive in his fourth appearance for the Eagles and provided a bit of much-needed hope for the hosts – for whom the international break can not come soon enough.
The hosts should have been riding a high after walking away with all three points at Old Trafford last Saturday, but the past seven days instead saw Eberechi Eze, Joel Ward and Cheick Doucoure add to a long list of Eagles injuries, which Hodgson acknowledged had reached a “crisis” point.
Forest quickly worked their way into Palace’s final third but the hosts responded in kind. Edouard launched an effort wide before an alert Will Hughes intercepted Gibbs-White’s weak pass, leading to Palace’s first corner.
Forest earned a corner of their own resulting in the first real chance of the encounter when Harry Toffolo called Sam Johnstone into action, the goalkeeper diving to push away the potential opener.
The visitors should have taken the lead after 20 minutes when Gibbs-White’s side-foot volley from Murillo’s long ball into the box beat Johnstone, but clipped the inside of the keeper’s post but did not cross the line.
Palace barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief. Moments later, Schlupp went down in midfield and was replaced by 21-year-old Rak-Sakyi.
Jordan Ayew then found himself in space near the penalty spot, cringing as he volleyed Joachim Andersen’s delivery well over the crossbar before Palace did little to take advantage of a free-kick, followed by a timely intervention from Riedewald to nullify the threat on the counter.
Rak-Sakyi, who had previously played just nine Premier League minutes for Palace this season, looked eager to prove he deserved more with spirited first half that saw him deliver two good crosses into the area and had a chance to break the deadlock with a volley from inside the six-yard box.
Matt Turner made the save, while Johnstone twice denied Murillo in three minutes of added time to ensure it remained goalless at the break.
Neither side was able to take advantage of early set-pieces to start the second period, which saw little in the way of chances as the game ticked past the hour mark when substitute Gonzalo Montiel saw a shot blocked by Marc Guehi.
Palace came agonisingly close when Tyrick Mitchell found Edouard, who picked out Mateta on the right edge of the area, his effort inching so close the home support had prematurely started to celebrate, but the ball rolled just wide.
It nevertheless sparked something in Hodgson’s side, who continued to pile on the pressure, first through another Rak-Sakyi effort following a fine run from Guehi, then a missed chance for Ayew when he nodded over the crossbar.
Just as momentum had begun to build in their favour, Palace were forced into another substitution. This time it was Riedewald after he was attended to by staff and Chris Richards sent in to replace him.
The deadlock remained a reality, just barely, after Joachim Anderson stuck out a leg to deny Montiel from close range, Johnstone extending to save Nicolas Dominguez’s effort and ensure the points were shared.
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